There’s something really exciting (at least to geeks like me) about placing an order with SparkFun. It’s a promise of things to come, of the coming implementation of some idea, of possibility.
But I’m lucky, in that I can enter an order into our website, then walk over to Shipping that same day, and my red SparkFun box will be all packed with my stuff. Unless you also work at SparkFun, your order wasn’t guaranteed to be ready to ship the same day. Until today.
Beginning today, SparkFun Electronics is guaranteeing that if you get your order in before the cutoff time and use an eligible ship type, it will be shipped out the same business day. (That’s shipped out, not received by you. We’re still working out anomalies in that Star Trek transporter.)
All dressed up with somewhere to go.
The cutoff time at first is pretty early - 11:00 am Mountain Time. As we continue to streamline our Shipping processes and are sure that we can consistently exceed our promise, we’ll move that cutoff time later in the day.
The eligible ship types are all the FedEx and UPS choices that we offer, plus USPS Priority, USPS Express Mail, and USPS Express Mail International. Or to say that another way, everything except USPS First Class and USPS First Class International are eligible.
If we ever can’t get a package picked and packed before the shipping company picks up for that business day, we’ll upgrade the shipping speed by one day (if that’s possible), and get the package out on the following business day.
There are some other important caveats (for example, the guarantee applies only to in-stock items, our Distributors aren’t eligible for this guarantee, payment has to be made in full, and we’re only promising this for business days and not if we’re closed for some reason). The full policy can be found here. It’s a pretty good read, surprisingly. I think SparkFun has to be the only company in the world whose Same Day Shipping guarantee mentions the zombie apocalypse.
Shopping with us just got a bit quicker.
Same-day shipping is something we've been working towards for a while and we are really excited to offer this new feature. We hope that this makes creating your project that much easier. Cheers!
'zombie apocalypse' a.k.a. 'free day'
clap clap clap
Oh good, the slow clap processor is working.
So about that shotgun and set of fire-axes for the server room...
1 cardio
2 double tap...
3 limber up!
But who has it worse? Servers or Shipping?
When I saw that picture, I thought this was going to be an announcement announcing the release of the red box as a product.
Same day shipping is nice too. :)
Living on the east coast that gives me until 12:59:59 local time to get my order in. The poor slobs in "Sillycon Valley" hardly have time to wake up to make the deadline. (Hawaiians have to set their alarm clocks!).
There are trade-offs for living in Hawaii
Like it matters, all the good orders are put in at 12 or so AM
Victory is mine!
I get same day -1 shipping, Living in Australia rocks!
GMT+10
But it always seems like the shipping time to Australia takes an extra day compared to the same distance the other way. : )
That's just great.
I still wanna see labels on the bottoms of of those pretty boxes instead of the tops - is that at all possible in the future?
Why? What's the difference?
Then we can use the cool looking boxes to store stuff in, and have plenty of space to label them with permanent markers.
Currently the shipping label dominates the box top, looks ugly, and makes it hard to read.
Shipping them with the label on the bottom means clean, reusable boxes. Very make.
Yeah...thanks a lot guys. Now I have to explain this to the PWP. She'll be on my "you know what" thinking I paid extra for shipping. How can I get my orders done the old way?
And I just ordered last night! Huzzah! =D
You should utilize Amazon fulfillment for same-day delivery! Prime members in certain areas (Seattle, for example) can get certain items delivered the same day for $3.99.
Hmmm, yeah, wahoo for same day shipping. I placed an order today, just after 1pm (mountain time) and at 3:05pm I received an e-mail telling me it shipped. Mind you, I was not expecting it to ship because it's after the cut-off time ... So thanks SFE!
So, when are you going to implement predictive shipping... come on, some of us order frequently and you've got to know what we'll be ordering in the near future (maybe time-released wish lists?) :-)
Okay wait, what?
"December 23rd, 2011 - in observance of Christmas Eve (December 24th)
- December 26th, 2011 - in observance of Christmas Day (December 25th)"
Those are your listed holidays. It sounds as though you have the 23rd and 26th off but are at work for the 24th and 25th. Am I being too literal?
Oh and thanks. I was getting tired of always calling in saying I needed it shipped out the same day. :P
It's because the 24th and 25th are Saturday and Sunday this year. We always have two additional days off for Christmas Eve and Day regardless of what day of the week the actual holidays land on, so if they're both on the weekend we still take days that would otherwise be work days (in this year's case the surrounding Monday and Friday) as our off days.
golf clap :) one more step toward total domination!
Please advise when you have the Star Trek transporter working - I think there is a business opportunity there!!!
Have you tried replacing your di-lithium crystals? You can get them here
Indeed. Transporters can replicate items, and even people.
Just imagine 10,000 RobertCs. There would be one for everyone!
But half of them would be inherently evil. Entertaining? Yes. practical? Not so much.
Only Will Riker and Tony Flanza can actually be cloned in that manner without creating 'evil' or 'good' versions.
Right - Sparkfun and CDC!
Hmm does this apply to the order I placed yesterday? I think it should get a free upgrade since I keep spending so much money here. ;)
haha
have you considered TDS (Tardis Delivery Service) as an option? Would defiantly come in handy sometimes.
BTW: You probably don't realize this, but this is coming at the same time as the impending Canadian Postal Strike.
'Like'
This doesn't mention local pickup.
Although I'll have to say, I've always been able to pick up at lunch when my order was in by 6am... tested via "order, sleep, pick up". It's like it comes in a dream!
Does this mean I can now presume any-time-the-next-day local pickup for an order in before 11am?
Never mind, I see that the local pickup section has been rewritten since I last read it. What can I way, but
******* Nice *******
golf clap
There's something truly awesome about those little red boxes...
Damn cheap chinese transporters anyway! Maybe the germans will take over. Mercedes Benz matter transformation technology!
new found glory reference!
My order shipped today! Is there a chance its in one of those USPS bins in the photo?
(Wistle wistle) YEA now my orders get here a day or 2 faster.
Shipping quicker means light speed and going through black holes, be careful !!! :)
...which would ultimately lead to receiving your order before you placed it. Now that's service!
Hey, I got my order from Sparkfun today. Remind me to order it later, Honey!!
I'd be happy with getting it before I pay for it. ;)
Ah, but if you didn't pay for it, it would evaporate(?) because it was never ordered, and thus never sent back in time. And then you wouldn't remember it arriving at all because you never have purchased it to have it sent back in time. I think.
Sounds like something out of THGTTG.
Thanks for that guys, keep up the great work!